Although most corporations, companies, private firms, and offices will be having their Christmas parties and gatherings as early as next week, let us not forget that as Catholic Christians, the Church still invites us to reflect upon and prepare ourselves for the Advent Season, the coming of Christ into our hearts, into our lives.

As we mark the beginning of Advent and the new liturgical cycle this Sunday, we are all called to prepare ourselves — heart, body, mind, and soul — our whole being to welcome the Lord.

We are now entering into this solemn time of reflection and preparation for the upcoming glorious season and time of Christmas wherein, I have just said, we are called to be vigilant and to prepare our lives to be truly good and worthy in all things so that we may indeed be worthy and ready to celebrate the true joy of Christmas.

Let us use all the opportunities that God is giving us, the time and chances to make good use of the talents, abilities, and other things He has bestowed on us since we were baptized. Despite our sinfulness, shortcomings, faults, and failures as Christians, the Lord God does not give up on us, His people.

God will continue to love us despite all the rebelliousness and difficult attitudes we have shown Him. The Lord will keep showing us His Fatherly love, chastising us for our sins and wickedness, disciplining us and reminding us of our obligations as Christians, teaching and guiding us to the right path through the Church leaders, the Pope, the bishops, priests, and religious. God is reaching out to us with ever-patient and enduring love. God delivers us from all our sins, trials, and tribulations so that we may be stirred and reminded to walk faithfully again in His path.

In the Gospel today, we are reminded of the nature of our Advent preparation and commemoration, that we should not be ignorant of the signs of the times, as the time of reckoning and judgment will come when everyone least expects it, and no one knows exactly except the Lord Himself when that moment will be.

Thus, as followers of Jesus, we ought to always be vigilant, ready, and prepared by living our lives with commitment and dedication to God and being righteous, virtuous, and just at all times. Every one of us should always strive to be good and worthy.

This Advent, we are preparing not only for the coming celebration of Christmas but also for the commemoration of the events that happened more than two thousand years ago, when the Lord, our Savior, and King, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, descended upon us in the flesh as the revelation of God’s love fully manifested to us. Advent is also a time of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ, also known as Parousia.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we embark on this Advent journey for the next few weeks, let us all make sure that our preparations for the celebration of Christmas are all truly Christ-centric.

Besides decking our houses, halls, and places with all sorts of decorations and festive atmosphere, what is even more important is that we should truly prepare our hearts, minds, souls, and whole beings. This Advent is a perfect time and occasion for us to re-orient ourselves and our lives towards the Lord, turning ourselves again to the path towards God. May our Advent journey be truly blessed and fruitful, brothers and sisters in Christ! Amen.